Microsoft has truly lost their mojo [...] looks awful, and really isn't needed. What should have been done here [...] Windows 8.1 Update 1 is going to cause more grief than fix. C'mon MSFT unfrak yourselves. This functionality is completely unwarranted.

Uh? Obviously you're just scared of change. So stop whining and continue using Windows 8/8.1 if you can't handle these improvements. I'm sure Microsoft knows what it's doing better than you do.

It does look stupid, but the solution is simple: Metro apps should not be fullscreen and should respect metrics of the taskbar. Metro apps appear to have more flexibility regarding screen size, proportions and layout than control-ridden Win32, so I assume it'd be an easy fix.

The solution's even easier than that - Don't put a desktop-style taskbar where it doesn't work and isn't needed. This just looks stupid, and if it makes it to release, this superfluous taskbar needs to be optional.

we've also noticed that on desktop PCs without a touchscreen, pictures open by default in the Windows Photo Viewer, while audio files open by default in Windows Media Player. Pictures used to open in the Metro-style Photos app, and audio files used to open in the Metro-style Music app. On machines with a touchscreen, content opens in the Metro-style apps.

To get back to what the thread is about, the way I understand it, you're not going to see the task bar in Metro-style apps, unless you absolutely intend to. As it is described, it seems to work the same way as it does on OS X in full-screen apps, where you have to move the cursor to the screen edge on the bottom and then continue moving in that direction in order to bring up the Dock. So you probably don't have to worry about revealing it accidentally.

To get back to what the thread is about, the way I understand it, you're not going to see the task bar in Metro-style apps, unless you absolutely intend to. As it is described, it seems to work the same way as it does on OS X in full-screen apps, where you have to move the cursor to the screen edge on the bottom and then continue moving in that direction in order to bring up the Dock. So you probably don't have to worry about revealing it accidentally.

Still doesn't eliminate the possibility of overshooting, and then accidentally triggering the taskbar. Overshooting is very much an issue.

Still doesn't eliminate the possibility of overshooting, and then accidentally triggering the taskbar. Overshooting is very much an issue.

We'll have to wait and see how this is actually executed by Microsoft. On OS X at least, you have to be very deliberate about this. Overshooting when it is part of a quick cursor movement does not actually activate the Dock in a full-screen app.

The only thing that might aggravate this issue is the fact that so much of Metro's chrome is located at the bottom of the screen.

Microsoft has truly lost their mojo with this update, mashing things together that truly shouldn't be. This honest to God, looks awful, and really isn't needed. What should have been done here is to adapt desktop apps to the task switcher at the side... Where it doesn't have the potential to interfere with app's functionality. The person at Microsoft who thought to have the taskbar appear over Metro apps was a good idea, should take a second look at this, and the issues it's going to cause.

The market has spoken. We wont put up with a cell phone UI on our workstations. Full screen apps ruin productivity. Modern means no aero snap, aero preview, and GPU accelerated thumbnails. It means no app stacking. It means no having more than one app up at a time. It means a system where you get blind sided and forced to lose view of your open apps each time you want to search for a file or launch another app? Why?!

It makes no sense!

This means you can keep your applets and with a keyboard and mouse multitask. I am sticking with Windows 7 for this reason and wouldn't upgrade to Windows 8 even if it were free! Corporate buyers would gladly pay $1,000 to keep Windows 7 for these reasons as productivity would suffer without multitasking ability.